Beloved Buffalo music venue Mohawk Place returns

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The heart and soul of the Buffalo music scene is back -- and its new owners hope that this time it’s back for good.

The Mohawk Place is set to make its triumphant return Friday under new owners Bernice Radle and Frank DiMaria. Florist, an indie folk band from Brooklyn, will take to the stage at 8 p.m. Doors are at 7 p.m.

It’s the first show at the legendary venue since January. Radle and DiMaria purchased the building in March -- with a bold new vision that both embraces the venue’s history and seeks to propel it forward into a more stable future.

“Mohawk is this legendary place that’s been around forever and just the idea of it dying was so unbelievable to me,” Radle said. “I feel like part of my soul fits in Mohawk Place. And a lot of people feel that way. ... It’s a piece of history but it’s also really critical for Buffalo’s future.”

The Mohawk has an extensive history that stretches across decades and a wide range of music genres. It opened in 1990 under original owner Pete Perrone with roots in rockabilly and blues. Over the years, it shifted to a blend of indie, punk and hardcore music and was wholly embraced by the local scene as the place to be.

The venue has experienced turbulent times since Perrone sold Mohawk Place in 2009; it closed for the first time in January 2013 before reopening in September 2014. Things were again looking dour in recent years; it closed for a second time in January under former owner Rick Platt. 

Radle, executive director at Preservation Buffalo-Niagara, has a long history of preserving properties in Buffalo. DiMaria is co-owner and CEO of Frank’s Basement Systems and has more than two decades of experience in the construction business. 

Both have spent plenty of time performing on the Mohawk stage over the years. And they wanted to save it.

Radle posted on Facebook, and DiMaria quickly called -- and they started working together on a plan.

“It was such an interesting process,” Radle said. “We sat down and we discussed not just the venue, but the model of the whole building. Mohawk moving forward will only work if the model is different. Small venues, they struggle already ... so Frank and I met for a beer, we talked through the nonprofit model, and he was like, ‘I think we can do this.’”

The duo’s plan for long-term sustainability includes far more than just the bar, the stage, and the sound system.

“The real key to Mohawk and making it financially viable as a whole thing is the upstairs,” Radle said. “When I looked at the building, I was like, what we should do is turn this into a whole nonprofit. And we can rent out the rooms to people in the creative industry.”

With three floors and roughly 25 rooms available to rent to artists and musicians -- and an additional focus through the nonprofit on music therapy -- Radle and DiMaria believe that those spaces could help take financial pressure off the venue itself.

“Phase 1 is getting the venue open, which we’re doing,” Radle said. “That’s happening right now. But the big goal, Phase 2 is that this building, we want to rent to people that can use the venue.”

Radle said that a long-term goal would be for the nonprofit to eventually “be able to hold its own and buy the building and just exist,” citing the Western New York Book Arts Center as an example. “And that’s up to the nonprofit, but that’s the ultimate long goal.”

For now, the focus remains on Phase 1 -- which included a long list of expensive infrastructure improvements -- and providing the authentic Mohawk Place experience. To that end, they’ll have plenty of help; former Mohawk bar operators and sound engineers will all return. Booker Marty Boratin -- a key figure throughout the course of Mohawk’s history -- will continue booking shows.

“I think that the future of Mohawk is trying to give a home for as many different genres as we can and being cognizant of that,” Radle said. “The other thing I know we are doing is we’re actively looking at up-and-coming bands across the country. ... There’s been lot of eras of Mohawk, but one of my favorite eras is when all of these really up-and-coming bands were coming and a lot of that was because Marty would go down to South by Southwest, he would see something ... so trying to build on that is one of our main big goals.”

The first stretch of shows for the relaunched Mohawk Place is as Mohawk as can be. Following the indie vibes of Florist is a series of Halloween parties -- one punk, one 90s -- and math rockers Strawberry Girls on Nov. 1.

“We’re trying to remember what worked in the past and trying to keep our minds open to new ideas, new music, new bands, new processes,” Radle said. “And honestly, it’s probably been the most fun project I’ve ever worked on.”

To donate to the Mohawk Forever GoFundMe, click here.